Re-Populating Cincinnati: Satisfying Our Most Basic Needs

By John F. Schlagetter

Cincinnati has 18,000 vacant housing units and over 20,000 Assisted housing units. By 2020 I project demand for 60,000 housing units occupied by 170,000 new residents.

Cincinnati's "basin" neighborhoods: CBD-Riverfront, Over-the-Rhine, West End, Queensgate, Lower Price Hill, Camp Washington, Mohawk-Brighton are ideally suited for families without children.

For families desiring yards in more residentially-scaled neighborhoods, Cincinnati has no shortage of neighborhoods with various amenities to suit their needs.

However, housing throughout the city is increasingly antiquated and lacking amenities desired by both renters & owners. City Council can implement many incentives to improving this stock.

Fair Housing

As described by Maslow, housing is one of humankind's most basic needs. Ensuring a marketable mix of housing types and price points is a policy responsibility of City Council. Respecting the right to pursue happiness in the form of property ownership was foremost in our founding fathers' minds, we must recognize that individual rights convey personal responsibilities, including civic duty. Per the OKI Regional Council of Governments' Draft Housing Trends & Conditions document dated March 19, 2003,

"No local government comprehensive plan reviewed by OKI addresses the identification, prevention, or elimination of substandard housing conditions."

Further, "Many local governments do not provide for mixed-use development or non-traditional land uses...[and] the region's land development trend has resulted in a 27% decrease in population density."

Cincinnati can take a leadership position in addressing these issues.

Further, Cincinnati has an ordinance addressing the Federal Community Reinvestment Act, but it has failed to enforce it. In fact, the Committee on Reinvestment has languished. City Council must ensure fair lending practices are observed in our city and support the CRA Modernization Act of 2001.

Homeownership Strategies

Cincinnati's Consolidated Plan for Housing ostensibly is based upon work performed by Stephen Howe. The Howe Report recommends four key strategies to increase homeownership in Cincinnati:

Increase the number of units appropriate for owner occupancy Help city renters purchase their homes Convince people from outside the city to live in Cincinnati Preventing erosion of the existing pool of owners.

Per the 2000 Census, Cincinnati has over 148,000 occupied housing units and almost 18,000 vacancies. Simply filling these vacant units with owners will increase our home ownership rate by 18 percent to 46 percent.

The Compact City scenario projects 170,000 new residents in Cincinnati by 2020. I project a demand for 60,000 housing units; converting 18,000 vacancies and current renter-occupied units to owner-occupied creates a demand for 42,000 new units.

Not surprisingly, neighborhoods with the highest vacancy rates: Over-the-Rhine, Camp Washington, CBD-Riverfront & the West End, also have the highest per capita violent crime rates. (source: www.cincinnati-oh.gov) as crime thrives in de-populated areas.

Inclusionary Zoning

Inclusionary zoning allows developers to increase the density of housing units built provided a percentage are designed for affordability, specifically those in the low and very low income markets. Montgomery County, Maryland has built 10,000 units in this fashion. This allows the market to create mixed income neighborhoods without the negative connotations of social engineering and contributes to increased homeownership.

Targeting Investments

If City Council concentrated homeownership investment dollars, we could create momentum in our neighborhoods to turn them around. We can invest $1 million annually in each of three neighborhoods, creating 300 homeownership opportunities each year.

Special Needs Housing

Housing for Special Needs Populations in Cincinnati includes housing for:

The structurally homeless (emergency shelters) Transitional housing for individuals re-entering self sufficiency, either from mental illness, chemical dependency, or incarceration Individuals requiring Assisted Living including the elderly and the physically challenged Individuals, including persons with HIV/AIDS, who require specialized medical attention

As America continues to deal with the effects of de-institutionalization, Cincinnati must rise to the challenge of housing the most vulnerable among us. Whether for a night or a lifetime, children are the largest part of our homeless population. Ensuring a ready supply of housing options from which individuals may choose is, I believe, a primary function of government.

Cincinnati benefits from a robust network of housing providers, including Tender Mercies, ReSTOC, the Drop Inn Center, the Over-the-Rhine Housing Network, Franciscan Ministries, et.al. While City Council's job is to create a full-employment local economy and I believe we can eliminate poverty in our city, we cannot turn our backs on those who have little to no voice in their government.

Our annual expenditures of Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) and Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) monies approximates $1 million. Council must work to create opportunities for individuals to not require the use of emergency shelter services on a going basis, supporting independent living to the greatest extent possible, including the provision of co-housing.

Co-location of Housing & Services

Currently, most Human Services providers are distributed primarily throughout Over-the-Rhine, often at a distance from Housing options.

I believe City Council should facilitate a dialog to determine whether this type of "distributed" model of service delivery should continue or be supplanted by a "centralized" model that would co-locate services with housing, possibly yielding operational efficiencies and accrued benefits to the populations served.

Human Services

The City of Cincinnati annually distributes over $36 million in Human Services Policy contracts, almost 200 programs administered by over 100 agencies, these address Objectives described in the city's Consolidated Plan and include:

• Housing & Neighborhood Blight
• Homeless Housing
• Housing for Special Populations
• Youth
• Public Facilities
• Economic Development

I believe we need to apply consistent criteria to the appropriation process and fund programs that reduce the need for their own services, where possible. This "planned obsolescence" sets a goal of "zero" for the special needs each program is set up to address. Also, the cost for the city to Plan & Administer these programs amounts to more than 10 percent the total funding disbursed; certainly we can do better to minimize overhead and maximize return on investment.

Equality, Equity & Parity

In a city where more than 43 percent of the population is African-American, trending toward 67 percent by 2020, it makes little sense to characterize Blacks as a minority. Economic disparities exist; it is City Council's job to eliminate individual and institutional barriers to personal achievement.

We must root out the reasons for disparate investment in Black-owned businesses described in the October 7, 2002 Disparity Study.

We must address the boycott demands on their merits, as they once were issues brought before City Council by citizens petitioning government for redress of their grievances.

And we must repeal Article XII of our Charter by which Cincinnati is the only city in the nation to identify a class of individuals against whom discrimination is legalized.